A 10 club

[MacArther]

I'm sorry, but I don't really care much for the JSF, in any form. The F22 is OK, but the A10 warthog owns all in the close-support, suppression, attak, and anti-tank. Heck, it could even go for regular bombing if brass wanted it to. Plus, ya gotta love the sleek lines on the plane , but seriously, I would hate to even see an A10 coming after me, let alone know it was going to obliterate me.

 

[syscom3]

The A10's are getting old and eventually a lot of money will be needed to upgrade and maintain them.

Plus theyre still slow flying and AA missles and guns have gotten far deadlier than for the era they were designed to fly and fight in.

 

[marconi]

What is your opinion about Su-25? Is it better than A-10 or not?

 

[Glider]

No doubt the SU25 is a tough nut but the A10 wins hands down in every department.

 

[marconi]

Why?

 

[Glider]

The easy ones first. Pilot visibility and the gun, the SU25 cannot match them. The A10 also has the better electronics, night sights and missiles.

Less obvious. The A10's engines exhaust their hot air over the wing using the wing to help mask the IR signature.

Both are well armoured but the A10 has better redunancy eg the engines are far apart. If one is hit the other may well survive, redundant systems abound in the A10.

I am sure that there are other benefits to the A10 which other people will add to this initial list.

Small point my wife has always called the A10 the Bullfrog. Please don't ask me why there is no logic or reason to it, but its become the family name for the A10.

 

[Nonskimmer]

Small point my wife has always called the A10 the Bullfrog. Please don't ask me why there is no logic or reason to it, but its become the family name for the A10.

Must've come from it's days in green.

Personally I've never found it to be an ugly aircraft at all, unlike the general consensus.

 

[Gnomey]

I don't think it is that bad but I prefer the JSF/F-35. As for the A-10 vs SU-25, I agree that the A-10 is better for the reasons stated.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Dont forget the fact that an A-10 can lost part of its wing and still fly home. It happened in the 1st Gulf War. The thing is a marvelous aircraft and hard to bring down. A-10 over Su-25 anyday.

 

[MacArther]

And ya gotta love the 30mm cannon the whole plane is designed around. In contrast, most planes are designed around the engines, or the intial frames.

 

[cheddar cheese]

I think thats actually a myth it was designed around it...

Also with the A-10's undercarriage retracted, it will still be able to land on the wheels as they are lef tpoking out, in case undercarriage failure...

A-10 is a brilliant piece of design...

 

[MacArther]

It actually is not a myth, I've seen the documentaries about it. That, and one of my old friend's dad served on the design team.

 

[evangilder]

The A-10 is the hands down ground slogger. When I was in training one time, we had one pop over a rise and dive on us while wiggling his wings (bang, we are all dead!). We never heard him coming. Missiles fired at aircraft are typically armed at a certain altitude. This becomes a problem when the A-10 is coming at you at treetop level. Groundfire is a minimal threat as the armor in that thing is excellent.

There is nothing in the works that even comes close to the A-10. You need a slow, heavily armed and armored aircraft for the job, not some fast, thin skinned fighter doing it as a secondary duty. They learned that during Gulf War I.

 

[syscom3]

A perfect job for UAV's. I could imagine a conflict in the future where hundreds of semi autonomous drones could be launched by troops in the field, each with a high powered anti-armour explosive, all diving on their targets.

 

[lesofprimus]

A perfect job for UAV's. I could imagine a conflict in the future where hundreds of semi autonomous drones could be launched by troops in the field, each with a high powered anti-armour explosive, all diving on their targets.

Perfect opportunity for Jamming....

The A10's are getting old and eventually a lot of money will be needed to upgrade and maintain them.

Agreed 100% sys... But until the gov't decides that they need to be replaced and put out a new contract, thats exactly whats going to happen... S*it, they still use Phantoms for Wild Weasel missions...

The A-10 is my favorite Modern Day aircraft, and probably my favorite plane period... Ugly??? I think not... It saved my ass in combat a couple of times...

 

[syscom3]

The F4 wild weasels were retired shortly after Gulf War 1.

 

[lesofprimus]

I stand corrected, thanks... Just saw a segment on Discovery Wings the other day... I guess it was dated material...

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

The A-10 is the ultimate Tank Killing machine and I do not see it being replaced very soon.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

they put in an appearance in Jarhead, good film and it's a good sequence with them, even if they are shooting at americans

 

[MichaelHenley]

A perfect job for UAV's. I could imagine a conflict in the future where hundreds of semi autonomous drones could be launched by troops in the field, each with a high powered anti-armour explosive, all diving on their targets.

Thats what the British Defence White Paper basically thought in April 1957...